No Talent in British F3..2004....???

[overflow]

Why would this series be less than competitive if has been suggested on these forums of late , no British drivers of ability are competing....sounds a bit condecending to me...Any thoughts..?:confused:

[Gaz]

Well a month back all the talent seemed to be running off to the Euro series...Hamilton, Watts(I know he didn't but it was rumoured), Kimber-Smith, Green, Salignon etc,etc. But the last 2-3 weeks have really seen it pick up and with drivers such as Rossiter and fingers crossed carroll signing the grid is looking very competitive indeed!

[Jonny Apex]

Originally posted by Gaz
Well a month back all the talent seemed to be running off to the Euro series...Hamilton, Watts(I know he didn't but it was rumoured), Kimber-Smith, Green, Salignon etc,etc. But the last 2-3 weeks have really seen it pick up and with drivers such as Rossiter and fingers crossed carroll signing the grid is looking very competitive indeed!

I think there has been a massive over reaction about the Euroseries nicking drivers from the British series. We're talking Lewis Hamilton and Jamie Green. Yes, it's competitive out there, but I think Britain remains just as tough as ever. The list of drivers now signed/signing is pretty impressive.

[Gaz]

Agreed fully Jonny!Just at the time it seemed soo dissapointing as Green and Hamilton were our two most hyped prospects. But this only gives chance for drivers such as Rossiter and Lloyd to shine. Although Euroseries appears to have better numbers I think the strength of our drivers is just as strong. If you look down the list there's not many drivers who you look at and think they'll be nowhere this year, every driver you look at and think there's a possibility of atleast a podium there!

[Jonny Apex]

I wouldn't quite go that far (there are a few I think will continue to struggle to make it into the top 10).

Quality, not quanity, is much more important.

[Gaz]

So who don't you rate then jonny?Theres one or two names in the Scholarship class like that Kumar who will struggle but of the confirmed championship class runners they all look pretty strong! probably the weakest on paper is Andrew Thompson and he still did manage the odd top 10 performance last year!

[Mr Jinxx]

I think the British/Euroseries is in a period of transition.

BF3 was strongest, historically. I think the emphasis is shifting to Europe, because of manufacturer support, and that is increasingly the only way to get to the top, and F3 is a rung on that ladder, so next year, the balance may shift that way.

This year, however, I think it's pretty equally matched, British v Euro. The top 6 in both will be pretty handy peddlers. The big question I suspect will remain the pricing for Euro F3.

[Arai GP5]

You can't help but think that the experience of EuroSeries using a few F1 tracks helps. That's why Toyota put Briscoe there.

But as Europe progressively has less GP's, it will even out.

[Mackmot]

I dont think there is much diference at the top but Euro definately have the edge on the rest of the field. I think that Euro has about 15-20 drivers in the midfield who will have moments of brilliance whereas British will only have about 5-10

[Russfeld]

They have a larger grid overall dont they? 27ish Class A cars whereas Brit seems to be roughly 20 Class A cars and 5-7 Class B?

[flor]

it's more like 37 class a cars

[strider]

I think you will find there may be 37 cars registered, but only 26 drivers actually firmed up. There is an entry list buried in the DTM website, but you need media accreditation to get it.

The Euroseries is now considerably more German than it is French and it is arguable whether or not it is F3, since it does not run strictly to FIA Regulations!

[Mr Jinxx]

My view is increasingly that Brit F3 is the way for this year, but Euro F3 will be the one to be in next year. I say this from a position of ignorance thus far, of course, but as Alex is on a 2 year F3 programme, then that format seems pretty good to me.

[Mr Jinxx]

Or F3000/F2 in the 2nd year ... I was rather taken by F3000 (Alex had a brief run with John Village, which totally changed my/our view of it) except for the lack of testing time for a young driver. If a guy/girl had been through F3, then I'm sure the F3000/F2 route would be a great and valuable experience.

[Russfeld]

I was looking at that the other day, and if you got your finances sorted from the word go, you'd get about 20 days of official testing before round 1.

Send him off to Spanish F3. Its cheap, you get prize money, F3 experience off the public radar, and you could end up with some FNissan offers. But if you take my ride ill kick you skwah in the nuts

[Mr Jinxx]

lol

LOL in fact. I saw the Spanish F3 incentives ... good. But it's yours for the taking, fat boy

[Russfeld]

35, 40, 30, 24, 20, 16

Thats the entry list for Silverstone F3000 98-2003. I hope to everything that is holy they do the right thing with GP2/F2/F3000 next year, just for the sake of the sport. Give those guys a second race, preferably sunday morning. I bet if I could get a start time close to the GP festivities, I could sell genuine sponsorship based on an F1 race day hospitality deal.

[Jonny Apex]

Originally posted by Gaz
So who don't you rate then jonny?Theres one or two names in the Scholarship class like that Kumar who will struggle but of the confirmed championship class runners they all look pretty strong! probably the weakest on paper is Andrew Thompson and he still did manage the odd top 10 performance last year!

I'm not going to get into naming names as it only starts rows and gets the statiticians shouting about one day when which leads to the thread going off topic.

All I'll say is I think there are a couple of drivers entering their second season of F3 who, having seen them struggle in lesser formulae, are somewhat over-rated by several minorities.